Average power price at IEX up 8 per cent at Rs 2.5 per unit in January

New Delhi: The average price of power at Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) was Rs 2.5 per unit in January this year, a tad higher than Rs 2.32 a unit in December 2016.

"In the first month of 2017, the day-ahead market at IEX saw a trade of 3,231 MUs and the daily average trade of 104 MUs. The average market clearing price was Rs 2.50 per unit, an 8 per cent rise over Rs 2.32 per unit in December 2016," IEX said in a statement.

According to statement, the average area clearing price the price at which settlement takes place varied from Rs 2.05 per unit to Rs 3.96 per unit.

At 125 million units, the average buy bids increased slightly over 119 MUs (in December) while the average daily sell bids at 224 MUs (in January) were almost at par with 229 MUs in December 2016.

Overall, the market remained buyer-friendly with subdued market clearing prices. The congestion on Inter-State Transmission Network eased vis-a-vis the previous month- (December), it said adding that the overall 68 MUs and on a daily average basis 2 MUs were lost in January.

In December 2016, 136 MUs were lost on overall basis and daily average loss was 4.4 MUs. The northern import was congested 41 per cent of the time during the month while the southern import was congested about 55 per cent of the time.

The congestion was experienced mainly due to unavailability of Inter-State Transmission Corridor, it said. The average ACP across regions in January are North-East, East and West at Rs 2.37 per unit, North at Rs 2.77 per unit and South at Rs 2.87 per unit.

As many as 1,177 participants traded in the spot market on an average daily basis. The highest participation was on January 6, 2017 when 1,301 participants traded on the exchange.

As much as 14 MUs were traded under term ahead market in January 2017 as compared to 56 MUs in December last year, it added.